beans

What a day… On one hand I am bummed to high heaven and miss Diana, and on the other, I sailed a kite today, my first time, and, according to DJ Guacamole, I am now ready to move on to the water.
Kite Surfing, never thought I would do it, learning to use the kites was super fun and insantly reminded me of the Japanese fighting kites, so powerful as well, one kite was over a meter, the other was 2-3 meters and drug me down the beach!
I was given a ride to a sweet training grond, well, it looked sweet, but upon learning what was really going on there, turns ot the “lake”, is actually the last stop for all runoff in the area, and is a healthy mix of fertilizers, acids, chemicals and no seeums for days.
I looped the kite in figure 8’s left to right and right to left, stalled the kite and saved it, drifted it along the waters edge, avoided the cacti and basically had a blast.
Now I am cooking beans, apparently adding salt to them doesnt allow for them to soften, so I will have to do some googling when I get a chance and see the truth in that.
Salsa class tonight, but, Im over it.
I just want my beans…. at least I hope to get them before the gas runs out!
What else, no real flashes of insight or deep thoughts, I mean I have had, but in all honesty, a flash of depth for me is more than likely a puyddle in your lives so why subject you to it here=]
Im tired, the winds have been between 15-30knts, thats alot, though I cannot say what it would e in Kph or Mph, the tent felt as though it was gong to come loose from its moorings and head into no mans land with me as a passenger, hopefully tonight will be tame…
Im surrounded by people but am lonely. Most conversations I eavesdrop on, dont judge, you do it as well, most of them I wouldnt care to be a part of, I saw a guy catch a scorpion last night only to toss it in the fire… That really pissed me off, but then, stupid is as stupid does and lord knows we got some stupid for dinner in America! I say that as almost everyone down here seems to e from the States or Canada.
The real esatte boom is about to egin in La Ventana for any speculators out there, you can come on down and help destroy another beautiful area, drive up the prices, increase the garage flow and make room for GMO veggies!

Day three, 16-17th, I moved camp from The free camp spot to a yoga retreat and had my first tai chi class this morning – 7 people! Now, the night prior, last night, I was invited with my host family to go to a handmade pizza night, very cool, all the local, nay, super uber local kite and windsurfers, it was hanging out with pro’s which is always a cool thing, to see ninjas in thier relaxed mode.
The pizza was exemplary, big brick over, crust cooked on stone and of course – VEGAN PIZZA! It was there that I met most of my Tai Chi class which I had this a.m at 8, of course NINJA!
I was then invited to go stand up paddle-boarding with SUPLV – suplv.com and, Super Ninja, we are now partnering together!
I am an official global front man for SupLv as I travel the world, I will be paddleboarding in every place I go. So sweet. I had always thought it would be easy, my last experience being in Hawaii with a retired windsurf board from the early days of windsurfing, falling off of it was actually quite difficult. This paddle-board on the other hand was light as a feather, my paddle was so light at times I was unsure it was there [carbon fiber].
So intense, so very ninja, no other way to describe it, it was sweet! Suffice to say i did NOT get any waves today, BUT, this is only day one, I will be ninja on patrol, now pedaling and Paddling for peace. I was also told by the gentleman who runs the yoga retreat that based upon my presentation of myself, he is seriously considering taking me out kiting – CHEEEEeeeeeeHHHHHOOOooooooooo! AIEEEEEEE!
If I had a dollar for every cool person who was genuinely sweet, caring and rad here in La Ventana, I would never want for cash again. Truly, this whole town is like a big family, no one steals here, Its mind bending to say the least=]
My bike ride yesterday was epic, I went to the start of the “Hotsprings” race which includes a very large stretch of offroading, and now I am reminded exactly why I love my bike.
You see, when I was at Interbike in Vegas, I had convinced myself that I needed a Salsa Fargo, and it is a very rad bike. We talked with the owner of Salsa and he was amicable enough and then, shocker, he disappeared off the map, never heard from him again. Bummer really for the simple fact he was a nice guy, bike be damned, anyway, no Fargo=]
Now, after yesterdays ride, to the hotsprings and back to the other end of town, not only was I able to beat offroad vehicles and full on trucks, you know, with dualies, big machines, with the flying mapache [specialized tri-cross, MY BIKE], but I was able to do it with a very high degree of style.
If you are looking for a rad touring bike, I may have stumbled upon, with the help of everyone who donated and helped to frankenstein it out, the ultimate road touring bike that, once in an area, you can rock n roll=]

What a day… On one hand I am bummed to high heaven and miss Diana, and on the other, I sailed a kite today, my first time, and, according to DJ Guacamole, I am now ready to move on to the water.

Kite Surfing, never thought I would do it, learning to use the kites was super fun and insantly reminded me of the Japanese fighting kites, so powerful as well, one kite was over a meter, the other was 2-3 meters and drug me down the beach!

I was given a ride to a sweet training grond, well, it looked sweet, but upon learning what was really going on there, turns ot the “lake”, is actually the last stop for all runoff in the area, and is a healthy mix of fertilizers, acids, chemicals and no seeums for days.

I looped the kite in figure 8’s left to right and right to left, stalled the kite and saved it, drifted it along the waters edge, avoided the cacti and basically had a blast.

Now I am cooking beans, apparently adding salt to them doesnt allow for them to soften, so I will have to do some googling when I get a chance and see the truth in that.

Salsa class tonight, but, Im over it.

I just want my beans…. at least I hope to get them before the gas runs out!

What else, no real flashes of insight or deep thoughts, I mean I have had, but in all honesty, a flash of depth for me is more than likely a puyddle in your lives so why subject you to it here=]

Im tired, the winds have been between 15-30knts, thats alot, though I cannot say what it would e in Kph or Mph, the tent felt as though it was gong to come loose from its moorings and head into no mans land with me as a passenger, hopefully tonight will be tame…

Im surrounded by people but am lonely. Most conversations I eavesdrop on, dont judge, you do it as well, most of them I wouldnt care to be a part of, I saw a guy catch a scorpion last night only to toss it in the fire… That really pissed me off, but then, stupid is as stupid does and lord knows we got some stupid for dinner in America! I say that as almost everyone down here seems to e from the States or Canada.

The real esatte boom is about to egin in La Ventana for any speculators out there, you can come on down and help destroy another beautiful area, drive up the prices, increase the garage flow and make room for GMO veggies!

Day three, 16-17th, I moved camp from The free camp spot to a yoga retreat and had my first tai chi class this morning – 7 people! Now, the night prior, last night, I was invited with my host family to go to a handmade pizza night, very cool, all the local, nay, super uber local kite and windsurfers, it was hanging out with pro’s which is always a cool thing, to see ninjas in thier relaxed mode.

The pizza was exemplary, big brick over, crust cooked on stone and of course – VEGAN PIZZA! It was there that I met most of my Tai Chi class which I had this a.m at 8, of course NINJA!

I was then invited to go stand up paddle-boarding with SUPLV – suplv.com and, Super Ninja, we are now partnering together!

I am an official global frontman for SupLv as I travel the world, I will be paddlebaording in every place I go. So sweet. I had always thought it would be easy, my last experience being in Hawaii with a retired windsurf board from the early days of windsurfing, falling off of it was actually quite difficult. This paddleboard on the other hand was light as a feather, my paddle was so light at times I was unsure it was there [carbon fiber].

So intense, so very ninja, no other way to describe it, it was sweet! Suffice to say i did NOT get any waves today, BUT, this is only day one, I will be ninja on patrol, now pedaling and Paddling for peace. I was also told by the gentleman who runs the yoga retreat that based upon my presentation of myself, he is seriously considering taking me out kiting – CHEEEEeeeeeeHHHHHOOOooooooooo! AIEEEEEEE!

If I had a doallar for every cool person who was genuinely sweet, caring and rad here in La Ventana, I would never want for cash again. Truly, this whole town is like a big family, no one steals here, Its mind bending to say the least=]

My bike ride yesterday was epic, I went to the start of the “Hotsprings” race which includes a very large stretch of offraoding, and now I am reminded exactly why I love my bike.

You see, when I was at Interbike in Vegas, I had convinced myself that I needed a Salsa Fargo, and it is a very rad bike. We talked with the owner of Salsa and he was amicable enough and then, shocker, he disappeared off the map, never heard from him again. Bummer really for the simple fact he was a nice guy, bike be damned, anyway, no Fargo=]

Now, after yesterdays ride, to the hotsprings and back to the other end of town, not only was I able to beat offroad vehicles and full on trucks, you know, with dualies, big machines, with the flying mapache [specialized tri-cross, MY BIKE], but I was able to do it with a very high degree of style.

If you are looking for a rad touring buike, I may have stumbled upon, with the help of everyone who donated and helped to frankenstein it out, the ultimate road touring bike that, once in an area, you can rock n roll=]

And without further ado, a recipe from Chef Jeff Moore of Chapter One in Santa Ana, Ca:

I’m the Sous Chef at Chapter One: the modern local in Santa Ana, CA. We’re working with Orange County Produce, LLC to bring local, organic fruits and vegetables into the restaurant. So far it’s been a great venture and we’ve been really lucky to have OCP on our side. The dish you saw today was Sauteed Pole Beans with thyme and three heirloom tomato coulis. Here’s what we did:

Pick up a few types of beans, we used yellow wax, romano and red long beans. A great place to find these is your local farmer’s market, but regular green beans will work too. We also bought some lovely heirloom tomatoes. One red, one green and one yellow. They are SO amazing when purchased locally. Here’s the recipe.

Assorted Beans, 1 pound

One each, yellow, green, red heirloom tomatoes

fresh thyme

salt to taste

olive oil

Pick the stems off of your beans (if attached) and cut in half.

Cut the stems out of your tomatoes and set aside.

Puree each tomato in a blender, adding a small amount of salt to each. Set each puree aside.

Over a medium high flame, heat your olive oil. Before it begins to smoke add your beans and cook, stirring occasionally. The beans should have a nice crisp, blistered look to them. Before you turn the heat off season them with some salt and fresh thyme.

With a spoon, make three pools of tomato coulis colors on your plate. Place the beans on top of the coulis for a beautiful contrast of colors.

Start by getting your bag of black beans and emptying it on the counter to beginning the most essential part of the process – rock separation. If you do not have to worry about rocks in your beans where you are, great, if you are in a place where there are rocks, you probably know by now if you have had homemade beans. Do a very good job with this step, I have a Dentist appt. soon due to my negligence=]

Now rinse and soak the beans in as clean a water as you can find. Try to avoid Tap water and have some kind of filtered water if possible. The beans will soak up this water and whatever is in it will then be in you. Know your Water, it completes you.

I used a pressure cooker, you can opt for a simple pot, just as effective and if you do it over a wood fire, even better.

Stir fry the Onion until it starts to lightly brown, then add the Garlic mixture. In chopping the Garlic, chop it together with a tablespoon or two of the Sea Salt and the dried and fresh Chilis.

Add whole Tamarinds AFTER, you take off the shell. Put in the whole thing, the seeds will be cooked and end up soft and chewy, turns out they also have a lot of good stuff for you, vitamins and minerals and things scientists don’t understand but know are good for us=]

Let this get darker brown, but NOT black. Now add the chopped tomatoes. Stir randomly to ensure even browning and minimal sticking, some sticking O.k. as Beans, Water and boiling are en route. Add a little more Sea Salt and Pepper and now also add the Tumeric. Your mixture should be brown, juicy and getting to a semi gravy like state.

Now add Beans and Water, stir a bit to initiate ninjafication.

As beans are cooking, add water to enhance the gravy aspect to your desired thickness. If using a pressure cooker check after 20 min and then continue checking every 15 adding water or not based on what you like. I fill the standard pressure cooking pot to about the halfway point with my Beans and Flavor mix and then water right to with a 1/2 inch from the top and that has me covered for a 30 min cook which is usually great for eating and right on time if you want to continue fine tuning.

Like this:

Today is Sunday and if you don’t know it already, I LOVE Sundays! In my everyday life it really doesn’t matters what day of the week it is, I take my days off when I need them and unless I have a schedule weekly yoga class or other previous commitment (which of course, now that we’re on the road, that doesn’t happen often) I work regardless what the calendar says. Most days I don’t even know what day or date it is. Except Sundays. Sundays I notice and celebrate for two main reasons: most people wake up late so I pretty much have the whole town to myself in my morning run or ride, and of course, there is that pre-programmed part of myself that tells me, no matter how busy of a day I might have, that I can relax and enjoy the day.

Like most Sundays, I woke up early today for running 6 miles that turned into 7 thanks to Moby and his remixes, got back, had the last cookie from yesterdays cookie revolution with coffee and soy milk and then we went to a fun bike ride around town with a local bicycle group which Glenda is part of. That was a lot of fun, I think Chris already uploaded a brief video. By the time we got home, I was HUNGRY!! so we made a super quick salad and started cooking guess what… BEANS!!!

We love beans… and Sundays=] we eat them several times a week so posting a recipe is actually not that easy, we need to choose! however cooking in some else’s kitchen makes it simple… I explore every little corner of the kitchen and see what comes out from that. Today’s special:

SUNDAY (little)SPICY BLACK BEANS!!

2 cups black beans

2 cups pinto beans

1 large white onion chopped

1 head garlic chopped

1 cinnamon stick of about 4 or 5 inches

2 dried pasilla chillies

2 dried chipotle chillies

10 dried de árbol chillies

salt and black pepper to taste… we used a LOT of pepper!

Begin by, if you remember, by soaking the beans overnight or at least a couple hours. Many seeds, and beans are after all a seed, are covered with natural enzymes and phytochemicals that the plants create on their own to protect them from other animals, plants or from the environment itself to make it easier for the new baby plant to born and grow. However, many of these chemicals can inhibit the absorption of nutrients during digestion, by soaking them you remove most of them while activating some other beneficial ones so when you eat your beans your body will be able to use most nutrients.

cook the onions, garlic and chillies until the colors are bright and intense

Now, caramelize the onion with a little olive oil in a large pan. Add the garlic, pepper and dried chillies and continue stir frying until the color of the chillies looks vibrant and bright, it’s a good idea to keep the flame in medium-low, you don’t want the chillies or the garlic to burn!

Add the beans and about two and a half liters of water. Now it’s a good time for adding the salt too, it’s always better to season while the food is still cooking so all the flavors get integrated. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about one hour or until the beans are soft and the gravy thick. You can always add more water if you need to.

You can serve your beans with some steamed spinach, or do what I did, place a bed of fresh spinach in your bowl and as soon as the beans are cooked and they are still super hot, serve them on top of the spinach, they will get cooked in a minute! Top with some avocado and enjoy!!

Like this:

Here is a whoop diddly recipe for a beans and rice meal with a side of plantains cooked Havanna Style.

For the Frijoles/that means beans, start by sautéing a large onion in the bottom of the pressure cooker, in whatever oil shakes your shaker. For this I used Oilve. Add to this a whole head of garlic, the cloves minced, sea salt to taste, black fresh ground pepper and the dry hot chili mix we made a little while ago in Mulege. The dry chili mix is basically an assortment of dried chillis, hot or not, slow roasted until they turn to ash over a period of usually three hours. This blackened ash is then added to oil for an instant mouthwatering salsa, or added to dishes such as this for seasoning.

beans cooking with rice on classic stove

Add to this sizzlefest some tomatoes, paprika and tumeric… Once everything is nice and browned, add the beans and water to near the top of the pressure cooker.

Lastly, I added to heaping spoons of unsweetened prepared DARK chocolate, you could just as easily use non milk dark chocolate baking squares…

Now just wait…. in about 30-45 min you’ll have the best beans EVER!

The Rice

Start by sauteing an oinion until it starts to brown, then add two carrots chopped lengthwise and sideways so that you have thin sticks. Add raisins, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, tomato rough chopped, Habanero minced, thyme, oregano and lastly the rice. Lower the heat and saute it ALL for a bit, until the rice browns slightly…

Now add water, keep the heat low and wait, when you see that almost all but a 16th of an inch of water remains or slightly less in the bottom of the pan – usually around 30 min, all relative though, turn off heat and keep covered.

Plantains

Get yourself a cooking banana, the darker the skin the better, cut it into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices, elipses more than just circles and fry in skillet with about a 1/4 inch of oil. Make sure the oil is very hot but not smoking when you add the banana slices. They will be ready on each side when it becomes a golden brown…